Senate candidate Joseph Breault keeping a low profile

A chaplain based at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery has chosen to keep a low profile in his campaign as a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

Breault is one of 10 Republican candidates who qualified for the special primary this summer.

The Alabama Republican Party declined to say if they knew of Breault or if he had any involvement in the party. But Montgomery County GOP Chairwoman Patricia Wilson told AL.com that she did not know who Breault was and that no one by that name was active in Montgomery politics.

"How did you get this number? Just out of curiosity," Joseph Breault told an AL.com reporter when reached at his phone on the base. He declined to speak about his campaign because he said he was on duty. Breault then missed a scheduled phone interview and did not respond to emailed questions about his background or why he is running.

AL.com made multiple unsuccessful attempts to contact Breault.

Based on a LinkedIn profile for a Joseph Breault in the Montgomery area that matches Breault's occupation, the obscure Senate candidate is not making his first run for office, although it's his first campaign in Alabama.

Breault is a chaplain at the Holm Center and the officer training school at Maxwell - a position he's served in for six months. Before moving to Alabama, he was a chaplain at the VA hospital in Salt Lake City, and was a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve in Colorado.

Breault was a candidate for state representative for the Salt Lake City area in Utah in 2016, where he won the Republican primary but lost in the general election. The LinkedIn profile said Breault ran as a "constitutional conservative," but it's unclear where he stands on Alabama issues.

"Despite the victory of the Democrat incumbent, I gained vital experience in managing a campaign committee, recruiting volunteers, addressing constituents concerns, explaining my stance on various political issues, interacting with news media, political marketing, and exercising a host of other business, social, and political skills," the online profile says.

The special election for Jeff Sessions' seat was set in motion after he was confirmed in January as President Donald Trump's attorney general. The contest was initially scheduled for 2018 by then-Gov. Robert Bentley, but Gov. Kay Ivey moved up the election to this year.

Breault will face off against nine other Republicans, including incumbent Sen. Luther Strange, in the Aug. 15 primary. If no candidate surpasses 50 percent support, a runoff will take place Sept. 26. The winner will then go up against the victor of the Democratic primary in the Dec. 12 general election.